


Open Your Wings, Evil Angel

by ASharksReadingGlasses



Series: Ghost in the NYC [11]
Category: Danny Phantom, Daredevil (TV), Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel Universe - Fandom, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Claustrophobia, Discussion about Vigilantism, Ethical Discussion, Gen, Ghost Theory, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Swearing, daredevil season 3 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28895961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASharksReadingGlasses/pseuds/ASharksReadingGlasses
Summary: Danny has a nightmare that shakes him to his core - and he can't even talk about it to Peter or Wade. Feeling conflicted, he takes the night to fly around the city to clear his head and ends up meeting Daredevil. Maybe the man who was once called "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen" can help him come to terms with some of the darker aspects of being a ghostly hybrid.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Matt Murdock, Danny Fenton & Peter Parker, Danny Fenton & Wade Wilson, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson
Series: Ghost in the NYC [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045206
Comments: 78
Kudos: 615





	Open Your Wings, Evil Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Made in collaboration with [Stove](https://the-stove-is-on-fire.tumblr.com) and the title is from Breaking Benjamin's song _Evil Angel_.

Danny twisted and turned, trying to unfold himself in the confined space he was trapped in. He didn't remember how he had gotten here - he didn't even know where "here" was, but it felt unsettlingly familiar. He felt like he had been stuffed into the worlds smallest locker, only there wasn't any welded bolts or metal parts digging into his skin, and it was eerily silent even when he shifted. When he opened his eyes all he could see was darkness, barely making out the mechanical workings of some type of machine. He tried to turn around, but found his body was contorted impossibly and realized he was in his ghost form. Danny sighed and banged his head back against the wall, understanding why being so cramped like this had felt familiar. _Had Jazz accidentally captured him in the Fenton Thermos again?_

"Okay Jazz," Danny yelled out furiously, trying to shift into a more comfortable position, "You can let me out now. Ha ha ha, Danny got stuck in the Fenton Thermos. How Hilarious." He shimmied in the tight space, starting to sweat when he wasn't let out or didn't receive an immediate reply. "Jazz? Tucker? Sam?" Danny asked uneasily as his core started to thrum. "Is anyone there?" He started to breathe heavily as he was left in the dark silence, feeling slightly claustrophobic while he turned frantically in the restricted space. He pulled his arms up by his chest and tried to push the walls outwards with his hands, giving himself the illusion of more space.

"JAZZ!" Danny shouted desperately, this time trying to push against the walls with his legs and feet. "SAM! TUCKER! ANYONE, PLEASE! LET ME OUT!"

A shudder of dread and unease went down Danny's spine as he continued to struggle in the thermos. How the hell did he end up in here!? Jazz had gotten better at ghost hunting months ago, and she managed their equipment a lot better than anyone else in their team besides Sam. He couldn't remember the last time Jazz had needed practice with ghost hunting - he couldn't even remember what he was doing before waking up here! Wait-, what _was_ he doing before he woke up here? Danny stilled, a distinct feeling of disconnect and foreboding flooding his core as he tried to remember.

 _New York_ , Danny thought as he tried to calm down. _I was in New York-, with Peter and Wade and Fido, in their apartment. I ran away. I ran away from home because my parents-!_ Danny felt his core bloom with ectoplasm uncontrollably as his memories came back to him. Had his parents decided that he was an echo, like they had always insisted in their ghost research? Were they determined to capture him and find out? Or had the GIW finally gotten wind of Danny's identity and had seized him for themselves? How did they know where he was? What about _Peter?_ _What did they do to Peter, Wade, and Fido? How long had he been in here? What if he ran out of energy and accidentally changed forms while he was still in the thermos?_ While terrified thoughts continued to fill his head, Danny felt he ghost form _change_ as ectoplasm continued to bleed out from his core, running rampant as a surge of protectiveness mixed with his panic.

 _I have to get out of here_ , Danny thought wildly as he hastily shuffled and shoved himself against the thermos, slightly relieved that Sam and Tucker had already helped him figure out how to free himself. After getting stuck in the Fenton Thermos so many times, Sam and Tucker had trained with him so he could get out by himself, concerned that he might be caught that way by his parents. He had ended up destroying the thermos they had used, the device going off like a bomb when he had overloaded the mini ectofilter with his Ghostly Wail. Sam and Tucker had been ecstatic that he wouldn't ever be trapped in one again, but Danny had promised himself that he would only ever use the tactic as a last resort because of how dangerous the damage could be. It certainly felt like a last resort now.

Danny exhaled shakily as he curled in on himself as tightly as he could, feeling like the walls were crowding around him as he brought is knees to his chest and covered his ears with his hands. He formed ectoshields over his ears and nearly passed out from the claustrophobic sensation while he prepared for the wail. Normally his Ghostly Wail didn't effect himself, but that was when he was in wide open spaces. Letting out a Wail while he was in the thermos without some protection would be like sitting in front of a giant speaker in an echo chamber with the volume turned all the way up. He was liable to burst his own eardrums if he wasn't careful, but it was the only attack he had that would be able to overload the ectofilter on the thermos. He attempted to take a deep breath to start his Wail, but his breath hitched when it felt like the walls of the Thermos were closing in tighter around him. Danny squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hands, digging his nails into the skin behind his ears to ground himself, before he tried again and screamed.

The Wail echoed and reverberated rapidly in the thermos, making the walls bulge and crack as the ectofilter was quickly overloaded before the thermos burst open like an over pressurized bottle of soda. The force of the explosion threw Danny against a wall, and he was so confused and shaken by the blast that he didn't have time to turn intangible. He slammed against the wall, his breath knocked out of him so hard that he started coughing and wheezing when he landed on the floor. Danny dropped the ectoshields from around his ears and clutched at his chest as he tried to regain his breath, propping himself against the wall with on of his arms as he heaved. Once his breathing was under control, he opened his eyes and started to observe his surroundings.

He wasn't in a pristine, overbearingly white and sterile lab he pictured himself ending up in if he was ever caught by the GIW. Instead, the room was dilapidated and dusty, piles of rotted wood, crushed bits of cracked red brick, and concrete dust gathering all over the pace. A broken light fixture was hanging by a single thick wire in the ceiling and was swaying unsteadily from the blast, while light streamed in from a dirty and cracked window. A few pieces of rat and moth bitten furniture laid abandoned on their sides, and strips of moldy wallpaper peeled itself off the walls while trash and pages of news papers littered the floor. A staircase sagged in on itself along the wall, some of the steps completely broken through and the handrail overgrown with a shriveled vine that stretched from the ceiling. Danny peeked through a hole in the ceiling, showing the upper floor was as abandoned as the downstairs as cracks and chunks of missing plaster revealed rust eaten pipes.

Danny gingerly pushed himself off the floor using the wall he was thrown against, making sure he didn't bring the whole thing down on his head, and tried to figure out where the hell he was. He took a cautious step forward as he stretched out the aches in his back, his foot brushing against small bits of rubble. The room he was in didn't look familiar to him, and the air smelled stale and old. Maybe after his parents or the GIW had captured him, they had hid the thermos in an abandoned building and were planning to come back for him later? But when Danny looked at what was left of the containment device he had been held in, he noticed something strange.

Danny leaned down to snag one of the larger pieces, the metal warped drastically from the blast. One side of the metal was covered in dingy circuitry and thin corroded wires that made the inner works of the thermos; the other side of the metal piece was dull and tarnished, full of dings and scratches. It looked almost fifty years old, but that was impossible! He was just at Peter's apartment a few hours ago, maybe ten at the most. Even if they had captured him, there was no way his parents or the GIW would leave him in some random building for that long! But then why did everything look so abandoned and decrepit? Feeling more uneasy, Danny took another step forward, planing to phase through the wall and go outside when something like glass cracked under his foot. He looked down, delicately lifting up his boot to see what was underneath. What he saw had his core skyrocketing into overdrive.

It was a medium glass and wood picture frame partially covered in brick and concrete dust; the wood was rotted and termite bitten, and the glass was cracked and yellowed with age. The picture was faded out and dotted with water marks - but he could still make out the orange of Jazz's hair and Dad's jumpsuit, the red tint of Mom's goggles and his own shoes. Danny fell to his knees as he reverently brushed the broken glass off the picture and anxiously lifted the photo out of the frame, afraid that the picture would disintegrate in his hands. With new foreboding, Danny slowly dragged his eyes away from the photo and looked around the room again. This-, this was his living room. That was the sofa his parents had bought when they had moved in, and that was the light fixture Dad had to replace when he had accidentally blasted the old one with a ectogun misfire. That was the hole Danny had to fix when he had tripped over the rug and put has fist though the wall, and the stain from when his mother had spilled raw ectoplasm on the floor. This was his home, in Amity. _What the hell had happened!?_

"No," Danny whispered brokenly, feeling overwhelmed and terrified, "No, no, no!"

Danny shoved himself off the floor, clutching the picture to his chest and fleeing from the house, phasing through the boarded up door and nearly tripping down the steps. His neighborhood looked as deserted and neglected as his house did; all of the buildings on his block either boarded up or piles of crumbling brick. There were chunks of asphalt missing from the streets, and the sidewalks were littered with fallen electrical lines or caved in walls. They sky was overcast in smoggy brown, and Danny heard nothing but the sound of his panicked breathing; no voices or footsteps of people, not even a bird. Danny turned wildly in the street before booking it down the clearest path, feeling too unstable to fly.

"HELLO!" Danny shouted desperately, still clinging to his family's picture. "PLEASE, ANYBODY! I NEED HELP! PLEASE-!" Danny choked as he tripped over a hidden pipe, skidding on his hands knees and nearly falling face first into some shards of a broken mirror. He patted hysterically at the ground before he even got his face up out of the dirt, frantically trying to pin down the picture before it was picked up by a breeze. As his hand pinned the photograph to the rubble, he caught his reflection in the corner of his eyes in one of the mirror shards.

It wasn't him that stared back.

Instead of his normal thin frame, he chest and shoulders were broad, and his arms were huge. His eyes were sunken in and glowed blood red instead of toxic green with dark skin around his eyes, and he could see his ears formed into points. Instead of his normal short white hair, his hair was long and wreathed like a small fire, and on his chin was a goatee. His skin was a sickly turquoise color, and he could see sharp, long fangs peeking out from behind his lip. But the most dramatic change was his expression; his eyes were alight with cruel and wrathful remorselessness, and his mouth was twisted into a condescending mirthful sneer.

"Didn't I tell, Danny," Dan's voice spoke in his ear as Danny's reflection mouthed the words. "You'll _always_ turn into me."

* * *

Peter's spidey sense jolted him awake as it scraped down his back before Danny screamed from the living room and he scrambled out of bed towards his bedroom door, swiping his web shooter off his desk as he passed. Wade (who had invited himself over to sleep now that Danny was determined to take the couch) instantly reached under the bed frame for one of the handguns he had stashed there before throwing off the blankets and following Peter, switching the safety off and fingering the trigger guard as he passed the foot of the bed. Fido, who had been resting between them, jerked into the air with a drawn out hiss, their normally wide golden-lime green eyes shrunk into slits and the ectoplasm along their back arching in to sharp vibrating spikes, like a cat's fur standing on end. They all ran down the hall into the living room, lights from the New York night life streaming in from an opening in the curtains on the balcony window. Peter skidded around the side of the couch and watched Danny struggle with the blankets he had borrowed for the night. The blankets were tangled tightly around Danny's legs and waist, and Danny was frantically trying to kick them off as he twisted on the sofa, small sorrowful moans trailing out of his mouth.

"Danny!" Peter whispered desperately as Wade and Fido trailed behind him. Peter was about to gently pat down Danny's legs when Danny flinched awake at the sound of his voice. Peter snatched his hand back as Danny rolled off the couch, hitting the floor hard and twisting himself further in the blankets as he tried to push himself away from Peter's and Wade's looming forms. Peter knelt down to help Danny out of the blankets, but Danny turned his legs intangible and phased through the mess of blankets before scrambling back. He shuffled in to the corner between the bookshelf and the wall where the spider-plants hung in the ceiling, a trail of frost covering the floor in his wake. Danny whimpered softly as he gulped for breath, his shoulders and chest heaving as he hyperventilated.

"Danny," Peter tried to speak calmly and softly as he crawled after Danny, sitting down in front of him a few feet away so he wouldn't feel crowded. "Danny, you're having a panic attack. Can you try and take a few deep breaths for me?" As Peter talked to Danny, Wade flicked the safety on his gun and slid it on the coffee table before going over to stand by Peter, Fido clutching at his shoulder and trilling in distress. Danny brought his knees to his chest, his arms shaking as he hugged them around his legs and leaned his forehead against his knees.

"Ca-, can't!" Danny cried through his gasping, "Can't-, breathe!" Fido cried out distraughtly and made an attempt to fly towards Danny, but Wade plucked them gently out of the air and muttered a few words.

"There's air here Danny, you can breathe. You're hyperventilating," Peter explained. "Can you try and slow down? Can I hold your hand or do something else to help?" Danny vehemently shook his head, his body swaying with the movement as he continued to pant. "That's fine Danny," Peter replied, biting his lip. "Can you try and breathe with me? We'll start easy, okay? In for four seconds, out for four seconds." Danny nodded shakily and Peter took an exaggerated slow breath, inhaling for the allotted time before exhaling steadily. Danny tired to copy, but his breath hitched three times on the inhale and his exhale shuddered. They tried again for a few more cycles, but Danny breathing only slowed marginally and Peter could see tears trailing down Danny cheeks.

"Hey, home slice," Wade piped up softly after Danny continued to struggle with the fourth cycle of breathing, Fido still gripped in his arms. "You're in Peter's apartment in Queens. It's twelve-thirty in the morning, and it's only you, me, Peter, and Fido in the apartment. Can you repeat that back to me?"

"I-, I'm in Peter's ap-, apartment in Queens. It's twel-, twelve-thirty in the morning. Only you, me, Pe-, Peter, and Fido in the ap-, apartment," Danny recited, exhaling it in a rush and stuttering when his breath hitched. He was still breathing fast, but it was a lot better than when they started.

"That's good Danny," Peter encouraged, "Say it again." Danny repeated the lines, his breathing starting to slow, and Peter got an idea. "Danny, we're gonna try something different now, is that okay?" Danny nodded into his knees. "Can you tell me five things you see?" Danny steeled himself and peaked over his knees as he drew in a steadier breath.

"You. Wa-, Wade. Fi-, Fido. So-, sofa. Bo-, bookcase," Danny listed, his breathing still shaky, but much slower.

"Awesome," Peter reassured him, giving Danny a supportive smile. "Next one: four things you can hear." Danny was silent for a moment as he concentrated on listening.

"Ca-, car horns. The hea-, heater. My core. Your brea-, breathing," Danny stated, his own breathing going down another notch.

"That's good Danny," Peter cheered soothingly. "Now, three things you can touch." Danny deliberately lifted one of his arms to the brick wall.

"Wall. Flo-, floor boards. My pj's," Danny declared. Peter continued to smile at him and Fido chirped hopefully from Wade's arms.

"You're doing great Danny," Peter praised, "You're almost done. Two things you can smell." Danny quirked his brow and wrinkled his nose.

"Sweat. D-, Dust," Danny continued, his breathing almost back to normal.

"Nearly there," Peter responded. "Last one: One thing you can taste." Danny took a deep breath and let it out slowly, lifting his face out of his knees and leaning against the wall.

"Last night's pizza," Danny answered, shifting slightly in his corner. "Gross."

"There you go," Peter said, and the atmosphere in the room lifted as everyone exhaled faintly in relief. Danny let go of his legs and scrubbed fiercely at the tear tracks on his face.

"Jesus Christ," Danny whispered hotly, and Peter flinched.

"It's okay Danny," Peter tried to assure him.

"Mother _fucker_ ," Danny spat, stretching out his legs, and Wade winced in empathy.

"We've all been there, home slice. It's fine," Wade retorted and Danny sighed in frustration.

"Are you all right?" Peter asked, shifting closer to see if Danny had any bruises forming on his face. "You didn't hurt yourself when you fell off the couch, did you?"

"Just my pride," Danny remarked sullenly, and Wade huffed a sad laugh while Peter bit at the inside of his cheek.

"Can I squeeze in there with you?" Peter requested, and Danny shifted more to the side to give him room. Peter scooted in between Danny and the bookshelf, only wrapping his arm around Danny after he leaned on Peter's shoulder. When Peter's arm touched Danny's skin, he had to bite back a gasp; Danny was _freezing_. "Do you want the blanket back?" Peter questioned. Danny shook his head against Peter's shoulder even as he started to shiver, and made a motion with his hands. Fido wiggled themselves out of Wade's grip and barreled into Danny chest with a high pitched squeal. As Danny rubbed Fido's face between his hands, Wade followed their example and sat down on the floor at their feet, half leaning on the glass door leading to the balcony. They all were quiet for a few minutes as they collected their thoughts before Wade spoke.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here," Wade said as he scratched the back of his head, "And guess that you don't want to talk about it." Danny flinched, bringing Fido under his chin as the shade whimpered in concern.

"Not really, no," Danny retorted, keeping his attention on Fido as he continued to shiver. Wade nodded sympathetically.

"Valid," Wade accepted, and Peter squeezed Danny in a one armed hug.

"We'll never make you talk about anything you don't want to, Danny," Peter promised, nuzzling his head against Danny's. "But we'll always be ready to listen." Danny nodded his head, still snuggling with Fido. Peter took a deep breath and sighed, giving Danny another one armed hug. "You probably don't want to go back to sleep, huh?" Peter guessed, and Danny vehemently shook his head.

"What do you usually do when you can't sleep?" Wade inquired. "Movies? Video games? Midnight snack? 'Cause I could totally hook you up with the best taco's in New York, if you want." Danny let out a stiff snicker.

"Usually go flying by myself for a couple of hours," Danny replied tensely, sneaking a look over towards Peter. Peter bit his lip in thought; he knew how cathartic it could be to use your powers just for the sake of using them, and how freeing it was to fly (or swing in his case) over the city.

"Three hours, max," Peter decided, and Danny straightened up in astonishment. "And you'll have to bring your phone with you. You can text me if you get lost or if you run into any problems."

"You're really going to let me go out, alone?" Danny murmured disbelievingly, Fido churring curiously.

"If it'll help make you feel better, yeah," Peter acknowledged, shrugging his shoulders. "Believe us Danny, we get it. Just-, be careful, okay? Don't go looking for trouble." Danny wrapped his arms around Peter in a full hug.

"I won't, I promise," Danny agreed, and gave Fido one last nuzzle before he handed them back to Wade with a hug and grabbed his phone off the couch. As soon as he had his phone, Danny changed forms, giving them a tiny nod of appreciation before phasing through the balcony door and flying into the sky.

* * *

As soon as Danny was in the air, he picked a direction and just _flew_. He barely paid any attention to his surroundings, simply trying to enjoy flying around New York at night as he worked through his thoughts and feelings, no longer feeling a chill now that he was in ghost form. A part of him hated that he couldn't be upfront with Peter and Wade about his emotions, and was always second guessing and trying to anticipate how they would react. Another part of him, the part that felt betrayed after his parents had... had shot him, was paranoid that _this_ was going to be the one thing that pushed Peter and Wade over the edge, where they would draw the line. And Danny knew that he was being _ridiculous!_ He could remember ever single time Peter and Wade were patient with him, or let him justify his actions, or actually _listened_ to him when he talked. But the part of him that felt abandoned by his parents was afraid that this would be the one thing Peter and Wade couldn't understand, even though he knew they would at least try.

Those thoughts circled around in his head for nearly an hour until he broke through a wall of skyscrapers, the buildings turning stout and transitioning from glass and steel to red brick and wood. The area looked sorta familiar, but it wasn't a place he had visited as a ghost before so he didn't really know exactly where he was. He circled around for a bit until he found a roof top that seemed like it didn't get a lot of foot traffic, and went in for a soft landing. Once his feet had touched the roof, he walked over to what looked like a hood vent that went into the building. Danny leaned against the vent, fishing his phone out of his pocket and checking the time and found he had been flying for more than hour already. He sighed dejectedly and let his head thump against the vent, figuring he could hang out here and mope for a while before starting to make his way back to Peter's apartment. Just as he was about to push himself off the vent and walk towards the edge of the roof to people watch, a deep voice spoke from somewhere behind the vent.

"Phantom?" A male voice asked curiously, and Danny jumped into the air, energy building up in his palms for an ectobeam. _Damn it_ , Danny was really starting to miss when enemies couldn't sneak up on him because they were ghosts! He hastily scanned the rooftop again, but instantly powered down his ectobeam when he saw Daredevil's black signature get-up near the other side of the roof.

"Holy shit," Danny muttered in awe, trying to swallow his nerves, "You know who I am?"

"Spider Man mentioned you might be in the city for a while a few days ago," Daredevil responded, rounding the vent as he took a few steps towards him, the tails of his black mask swinging as he walked. "He asked if I could spread the word around to the other... vigilantes, so we didn't accidentally hurt you by mistake." Danny blinked, and his core hummed pleasantly.

"Spider Man did that, for me?" Danny asked, touched.

"Yeah," Daredevil confirmed, "He said you'd be holding up with him while you were handling something. Speaking of which, aren't you a little far from Queens?" Danny gulped.

After the whole "Tony Stark Debacle", Danny had wondered if Peter knew any of the other New York heroes or vigilantes. Peter had smiled slyly and mentioned he knew a few before telling some of his favorite encounters. From the way Peter had talked about him, Daredevil was as serious and hard hitting as some of the news sources said he was, but Danny didn't hold that against him. Some of the things Daredevil tackled (things like human trafficking rings, rapists, vicious muggers, and various mobs) needed someone who could work around the legal system when it failed to keep people like that behind bars. But the one thing Danny keenly remembered Peter pointing out was that Daredevil tended to stick exclusively to Hell's Kitchen, and he didn't like visitors.

"Sorry," Danny apologized quickly, landing back on the roof and wringing his hands together. "I was just trying to clear my head - I didn't mean to go out this far." Daredevil tilted his head a moment before nodding in acceptance.

"Try to stick closer to Queens next time," Daredevil remarked.

"Yeah, sure," Danny complied, taking half a step back and throwing his thumb over his shoulder. "I can leave if you want. Go haunt some place else for a while. How'd you know I was up here anyway?" Daredevil let out a bark of laughter before moving past Danny and going to the roof edge.

"You're easy to spot if you know what to look for," Daredevil grinned like he was secretly laughing at an inside joke before he crossed his arms and tilted his head again, like he was listening for something. "And you're fine - just try and keep it down." Danny nodded before tentatively joining Daredevil at he roof edge, leaning his arms on the safety ledge and watching people on the sidewalk, his thoughts circling back to his nightmare and his reluctance to tell Peter and Wade. A few minutes went by and Danny slid his eyes over to Daredevil before turning back to the sidewalk and biting his lip.

One of the reasons it was so hard to talk to Peter sometimes was because he was also Spider Man, and Spider Man-, well, Spider Man was such a _good_ hero. He stopped muggings, robberies, and rescued people from burning buildings. But he also took time to help people with their groceries, or give directions to someone who was lost, or got cats out of trees. And Danny-, Danny was just trying to stop ghosts from hurting his friends and family when he barely understood anything about his powers. With that kind of reputation, Peter (unknowingly) put pressure on Danny to live up to his expectations. While Peter always tried to assure him that it was understandable if he lost control of his powers in high stress situations, Danny still hated that it happened at all. And he couldn't explain to Peter why he was upset about it unless he broke the expectations Peter had of him. But maybe... Maybe a vigilante like Daredevil would understand.

"Got something to say?" Daredevil asked, and Danny attempted to swallow past the lump in his throat.

"How do you do it?" Danny murmured, keeping his attention solely on the pedestrians below. Daredevil tensed.

"Do what?" He demanded sternly. Danny threw his hands out in front of him, motioning to the city and made a noise of frustration.

"How do you stop yourself from going too far?" Danny implored. "The kind of thugs you deal with - they're disgusting and horrible. And I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't mind if you put them six feet under, but you don't. You send them to the hospital with broken bones and months of recovery in a jail cell. So how do you-?" Danny paused, taking a shaky breath and letting it out slowly before taking the plunge. "Have you ever thought of killing them before?" Daredevil jerked in shock, but never took his attention away from whatever he was trying to listen for.

"Once," Daredevil answered softly, turning around to lean on the roof ledge, and Danny stood up straight, turning his body towards Daredevil. "Ever heard of Wilson Fisk?"

"Yeah," Danny replied. "There was a story on the news a couple of years ago - I remember it being a big deal." Daredevil nodded.

"I was one of the people who helped put him away the first time," Daredevil continued, "But while he was in prison and then during his house arrest, he found out the identities of a few of my friends and he threatened them. Over, and over. One of them-, one of them ended up being killed by someone impersonating me." Daredevil curled his hands onto fists on his arms before he relaxed them. "And I wanted to kill Fisk for what he did. I had him - I could have ended him."

"What made you stop?" Danny asked fervently. Daredevil shrugged.

"Before he surrendered, I nearly beat Fisk to death," He explained. "But if I had crossed that line, then I would've been letting Fisk transform who I am. 'I'm the captain of my soul; I'm the master of my fate.' I wasn't going to let Fist beat me by changing my philosophies or ideals. So, I left him alive, even though I know there's still a chance he might hurt my friends." There was a pause before Daredevil spoke again. "Why are you asking, Phantom?" Danny hunched his shoulders and gnawed at his lip before sitting down on the roof and leaning his back against the ledge.

"Because I think I might have wanted to kill someone," Danny responded shakily, bringing his hands up to hold his head. "And I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that. I've never wanted to hurt anyone like that-, not even other ghosts. But this guy-, his name is Plasmius and he's a hybrid like me, but he doesn't use his powers like I do. He's-, he's hurt my friends and my family before, repeatedly. And ever time he does, I start to lose control of my powers. Of _myself_. The first time it happened, he nearly killed someone and I-, I _blacked out_. If Spider Man hadn't been there, I think I would have-. I think I would have killed him. And it keeps _happening_. I don't want to be a monster. I just-, I want it to stop but I don't know how."

"Have you talked to Spider Man about this?" Daredevil questioned, and it was almost gentle. Danny shook his head.

"No," Danny moaned brokenly, "I'm so scared about how he'll react and I can't-, I can't deal with that if he-, if he-!" Danny exhaled shakily and tried to calm himself back down. Daredevil let him get himself back under control before he decided to comment.

"I think you should try to tell him as soon as you feel ready," Daredevil suggested with a sigh, "And I know that doesn't help. But Phantom, Spider Man will find out eventually, and it will be better when it comes from you. My friends didn't really know about this," and here, Daredevil motioned to himself, "For a long time and when they found out - it wasn't good. It almost ruined my whole relationship with them."

"I _know_ ," Danny intoned dragging his hands down his face, "But what if I never feel ready?"

"Sometimes it's going to feel like that no matter what," Daredevil agreed, "But that's when all you can do is hope for the best. And Spider Man is known for that; try putting your trust in him, okay?" Danny sucked in a breath and nodded.

"Okay," He echoed.

* * *

Danny managed to make it back to Peter's apartment with thirty minutes to spare before his three hours were up, and landed on the balcony before slipping intangible through the glass window. After he had sneaked inside, he saw a hint of Wade standing by the stove in the kitchen with a dark hoodie over his sleepwear and a spatula in his hand. Danny made himself tangible before changing forms, a slight chill seeping into his skin before he walked towards the kitchen. He was about to call out to Wade when Peter trailed out from behind the wall.

"Danny, you're back!" Peter exclaimed as he rushed forward, Fido hanging over his shoulder and trilling happily. Danny nodded stiffly as Peter guided him into the kitchen, and then blinked at the absolutely obscene amount of pancakes stacked on a plate by the stove while Fido flew over and nestled into his neck with a tiny coo.

"Why are you making so many pancakes?" Danny inquired as he sat down at the table in the chair closest to the hall while Peter took the one closest to Wade.

"They're my specially patented 'Pick Me Up' pancakes," Wade singsonged as he grabbed a large bowl of batter from the other side of the stove and poured a portion into a frying pan, smudging some of the mixture onto his hoodie. "They're guaranteed to-."

"Wade was hungry but I didn't feel like cooking," Peter interrupted, pointing a finger over his shoulder and rolling his eyes. "And the only thing Wade knows how to make is pancakes, so..." Wade whirled around to face them, pointing his spatula dramatically at Peter.

"Betrayal!" Wade gasped, holding his other hand over his chest. "Petey Pie, I told that to you in the utmost confidence! How could you!?" Peter turned in his chair and looked at Wade with a deadpanned stare before slowly reaching into his loose sweatpants pocket, pulling out a small ball of webbing and fiddling with it between his fingers.

"Gee," Peter said impassively,"I wonder why I would do such a thing?" Wade turned pink and muttered under his breath as he went back to making pancakes while Fido churred with laughter from Danny's neck and Danny hid his own snicker behind his hand. Peter swiveled his head back in Danny's direction and smirked at him before it became gentle. "Are you feeling better?" Peter asked, and Danny shrugged, his smile dimming.

"A little bit," Danny admitted, and Fido warbled unhappily. Peter frowned, stuffing the ball of webbing back in his pants before leaning over and tousled Danny's hair.

"If you ever need some more time alone, just let us know, all right?" Peter encouraged, sitting back in his chair. Danny nodded stiffly, Daredevil's warning circling in his head.

"Actually, I, um, wanted to talk to you guys," Danny stuttered, and Wade stilled before turning around with his back to the stove while Peter perked up in his seat. Danny braced himself, and opened his mouth-

_His mother's face twisting into an angry snarl as she reached for her ectogun._

_"I've got your back, Danny."_

_His father looking at him in shock and uneasy disbelief, rising out of his chair._

_"But that's when all you can do is hope for the best. And Spider Man is known for that; try putting your trust in him, okay?"_

_A whine of an ectoblast and then a stinging burn in his chest._

_"To me and Peter, your friends, and your sister-, you will always just be Danny."_

_The pain making him hazy, his core urging him to run, his mother's enraged cries following behind him._

-before he clenched his hands in the fabric of his pants.

"I-, I have something that I need to tell you," Danny started lowering his head and hiding his eyes behind his bangs. "But I'm not-, I'm not ready yet. And it's not because I don't trust you!" Danny added hastily. "There's just something I have to figure out first. So, yeah... just wanted to give you guys a heads up." Danny chewed on his lip when no one said anything for a few seconds, lifting his head when Peter got out of his chair and walked over to him, pulling out Danny's seat so he was turned towards him. Peter put his hands around Danny's shoulders and tugged him in for a tentative hug. Danny went willingly, burying his head in Peter's stomach while Peter trailed his hands through Danny's hair soothingly.

"Whenever your ready to talk to us Danny, we'll be here," Peter whispered. "We aren't going anywhere."


End file.
